John Harvey Photo

Merritt

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Chasing the 50°N, 121°W Confluence Point


Sean at Dairy Queen

On the road again!  Sean first discovered the Confluence project and told us about the project.   The project is to get people to visit every integer confluence of longitude and latitude around the world and post pictures on their web page.  We chose 50°N, 121°W because it's close to Vancouver and it didn't look impossible to get to.  We rented two mini vans and Friday afternoon we hit the road!

Nicola LakeLake at the Side of the Coquihalla

Our first destination was Merritt - it's close to the confluence point and our camp site - Lac Le Jeune.  We left Vancouver around 4, got into Merritt around 7 and the camp site around 8pm.

At GateSetting up CampSetting up

With the light failing we set up camp.  (I was inspired by a shot at Pender to do the time laps photos.)  As Sean once said - all BC camp sites look the same.  This one was no different - the stock gravel pad, the same wooden picnic table, the same fire pits - but it was a nice place to call home.

Camp From AfarCamp Fire

The next morning we made breakfast (pancakes) and got ready for our rough hike.

Pumping StoveThree Guys

Patch of Flowers

This little patch of flowers was in a clearing behind our camp site.  I went over to take a picture of a rose and then noticed the lily.  The more I looked, the more species of flowers I saw.  Tiger Lily, Artic Lupine, some yellow flower.  Nootka Rose, Bunchberry.  Some pink flower, Paintbrush.

Tiger LilyArtic LupineYellow Flower

Nootka RoseBunchberry

Pink BellsPaint Brush

Enough flowers - time to find the confluence point!  Lac Le Jeune is about an hour drive away from the confluence point so we got in the mini vans and hit the road.  First we had to get back to Merritt - high speed highway.  We then took Coldwater Road (east of town) then Patchett Road (spur) until we got to the cart track where we parked the mini vans.  From there it was a hike!

GPS on CoquihallaDirt RoadOff Patchett Road

The Hike There:
 

Starting Hike

After parking the cars we set out on the dirt track.  At this point the the road was wide and we could have driven the mini vans down (it turns out or contract says we won't drive the rental car off road. )  After a short walk we came up to a cattle fence and the road quickly degraded to 4x4 only.

Entering Fence

We reached the top of the hill (lined up the east/west number on the GPS) and then headed south cross country to get to the confluence point.  We figured the confluence point was in the valley between the two hills but when we got to the bottom (quite mucky) we realized we had to go up the other hill.  As we started up the next hill we noticed a nicer path than the bush we were wacking though and we saw a Ruffed grouse - a nice surprise!

Ridge TopIn SwampRuffed Grouse

Quickly enough, we closed in on the confluence point.  The point we got is pretty boring - it's just trees and grass.

The four directions (N,E,S,W)

View North

View WestView East

View South



 

And here's the GPS's telling us we are pretty close. (49° 59.998' N, 120° 59.997' W) GPS Receivers
We walked a little ways up the hill (about 30 meters) and got to the top of the hill and a great panoramic view!

Panoramic

Lunch Time


We had lunch on the top in the nice breeze and relaxed for a little while.  Shortly there after we headed back down the hill.  Our goal was to hit the trail we found when walking up and follow it out as far as it would go.

Hiking Down Hill

As we walked, Jer reached down and picked up a stone.  It was a cool lava remnant.  We kept walking - the trail turned out to be a pretty direct route to the cart track which took us back to the cars.  I noticed a stand of birch

Lava RockStand of Birch

We walked back to the cars, got in, and I dropped my camera!  The F100 was on top of the tripod and I somehow knocked over the tripod.  I jammed the 105mm micro and bent the base plate of the camera where the camera screwed into the tripod.  I didn't feel inspired to take pictures after that so the trip ends here!


 


Pink Bells
Tags: flower
View South
Hiking Down Hill
Starting Hike
Tags: hiking
Off Patchett Road
Tags: road
Entering Fence
Nootka Rose
Species: Rosa nutkana (Nootka rose)
Tags: flower
View North
Bunchberry
Species: Cornus canadensis (Canadian Dogwood, Canadian bunchberry)
Tags: flower
Lunch Time
Tags: hiking, lunch
Stand of Birch
Tags: forest
Setting up Camp
Tags: camping, tent
Camp From Afar
Tags: camping, tent
Pumping Stove
Person: Andrea
Ruffed Grouse
Species: Bonasa umbellus (Ruffed Grouse)
Tags: bird
In Swamp
Lava Rock
Tags: lava, rock
Three Guys
Person: David, Jesse, Sean
Camp Fire
Tags: fire
Ridge Top
Paint Brush
Tags: flower, shallow depth of field
Panoramic
Tags: vista
View East
Sean at Dairy Queen
Person: Sean
Location: Go To...
Dirt Road
Tags: driving, road trip
Nicola Lake
Tags: lake
Tiger Lily
Species: Lilium columbianum (Columbian lily)
Tags: flower
GPS Receivers
Location: Go To...
Tags: tool
GPS on Coquihalla
Tags: driving
Yellow Flower
Tags: flower, shallow depth of field
View West
Lake at the Side of the Coquihalla
Tags: lake
Patch of Flowers
Setting up
Tags: camping, tent
At Gate
Tags: camping
Artic Lupine
Tags: flower
Tags: Do Not Tag(12), flower(7), camping(4), tent(3), hiking(2), lake(2)
People: Sean(2), Andrea(1), David(1), Jesse(1)
From: John Harvey Photo > John Harvey Photo - Camping > Merritt trip - 50°N, 121°W Confluence Point

i think a albino sasquatch was sighted around there a few years back no joke!
mike d
Friday, November 23rd, 2007 at 18:58:01

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